So the 25 things about me meme that has been circulating facebook finally got the best of me. Combine a day off at the museum with no desire to leave my penguin pajama pants and you get a completed meme. I'll try and write something more substantial soon.
1) I always wanted to ride 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Disneyworld but out of the 3 times I went with my family as a kid (before the ride was closed) I threw up every time. The first time I didn’t even make it to the ride before throwing up. The 2nd time I threw up while waiting in line and the 3rd I was the NEXT PERSON to go on the ride and I threw up on a rock when the submarine surfaced.
2) I’ve played piano since I was 8 (ish). I know this one doesn’t sound that interesting but I’ve been learning that LOTS of people didn’t know this about me. I wrote a couple of dark angsty songs in high school and a couple more in college. I play primarily by ear and am only now getting semi-ok at sight reading.
3) I have a mild case of social anxiety disorder. Lots of people don’t really believe me when I say this but there are certain times when something will trigger it and I almost have a panic attack. I’ve discovered the primary times it hits are meeting new people (not surprisingly), learning new things in front of other people (specifically dancing it would seem) and of course any sort of dating situation (at least at first). I know these situations stress everyone out (for the most part) but I have a pretty intense physical reaction that I can generally keep mostly to myself. I have only fully shut down in one of these situations a couple of times but it can happen. Generally my coping mechanisms will kick in and I’ll get through it but it’s not pretty when I can’t do it.
4) I can stick my finger in my eye down to the second knuckle....same distance up my nose. I can also balance ten dollars worth of quarters in a hole I can create in my neck.
5) The day I was born there was a baby Gaines black and baby Gaines white. Guess which one my dad saw first. The nurses also nicknamed me “Baby Hollywood” because my name was so long and pretentious.
6) In the past 3 years I’ve lived in 1) Danville, KY 2) Santa Clara, CA 3) Boston, MA, 4) Louisville, KY 5) A little red truck touring through MT, WA and OR 6) Harlan, KY 7) Arlington, VA and 8) Washington DC. I think it’s time to slow it down a bit. If all things go as planned I’m sticking in DC for the foreseeable future.
7) I have learned more about myself through learning about others than I could have possibly imagined. My friends mean so much to me. I feel like every interaction I have with people, good or bad, helps shape me into the person I am to become and so far I’m pretty happy with that person. I think that social relationships are some of the most important things we can cultivate during our lives and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. It seems a bit selfish but I know that I grow immensely by learning about others and figuring out why they are the person they are and why they do the things they do. I’m all about comparative studies as long as you don’t feel inadequate to others/make others feel inadequate to you.
8) I ramble when I write. Hence the length of my answers.
9) I’m an experience junkie. (Stolen from Ginger’s seminar speech.) I didn’t realize it till after Ginger spoke the words and I really started thinking about it. I love trying new things and the idea of being a “student of the world”. I’d spent all my money on experience but have a difficult time buying material items (unless they’re related to said experience).
10) I grew up in Harlan, KY. The very southeastern corner of the state. 3 hours away from basically anything. I graduated in a class of 63 (the largest in years) and promptly moved away. While I could never live there again (for MULTIPLE reasons) I do think that living in such a small (and boring) place for most of my childhood really affected me today. I still open doors for everyone (even when there is a long line of people coming out that I don’t know). I try to say please and thank you as much as I can. I am incapable of wearing a hat inside. I trust that people are inherently good and that eventually they’ll find that side of them. (Not to say there aren’t people I think are douchebags but I always hold to the hope that maybe one day they’ll come around...even though it isn’t my job to bring them to that point.)
11) My dream home will have the following things. 1) A spiral staircase SOMEWHERE (it doesn’t even have to lead anywhere exciting, I just want a spiral staircase). 2) A glassblowing studio in the garage. 3) High ceilings. 4) A trampoline room where the floor is made of trampoline and the walls are that human velcro material so I can jump around on the trampoline and then throw myself up against the wall and stick there. 5) A baby grand (or grand) piano. Black of course. 6) A glass wall that looks out onto the view (view of what TBD). 7) LOTS of bookshelves full of books. 8) Art all over the place. 9) A kitchen with exposed brick and stainless steel appliances. 10) A hot tub
12) I have a nautical star tattooed on my back left shoulder. I also used to have both my ears pierced and my labret but I took them all out when I started teaching children. Apparently it is IMPOSSIBLE for children to focus when you have metal coming out of your lower lip.
13) I’m trying to learn yoga now and I’m really enjoying the process. Turns out I’m WAY more flexible than I would have imagined in some areas and just as flexible as I thought in others.
14) I love the process of creation. Whether it happen in theatre, art, music, or any other medium I am exhilarated by bringing something new to the world and all that entails.
15) When I was a child I wanted a snowcone so badly that I jumped on the back of the snowcone truck as it was driving away and rode on the bumper as my mom ran behind the truck screaming and trying to get the guy to stop who didn’t know there was an overweight kid begging for a snow cone hitching a ride. At the time they didn’t have windows in the back of the trucks, the next year they did. I’d like to think I was the reason for this upgrade. (End of the story: I got my snowcone and it was free....Tiger’s Blood of course.)
16) Nothing makes me cry like a beautiful song. Live music has a pied piper effect on me. I nearly lost it in the metro listening to an old lady playing the violin while I was waiting for the yellow line.
17) I tend to overanalyze things. I’m pretty intuitive with others which comes as a gift sometimes but others I nit pick through everything said/done/expressed/etc to try and make meaning of it all. It takes me at least 20 minutes to fall asleep because I’m thinking/processing everything from my day unless I’m physically exhausted.
18) I still harbor dreams of one day being successful in the artistic field. I would love to be a successful actor (not necessarily famous) or director. A singer in a band. A glassblower. Anything in that vein but my realistic dream is to be a professor of Dramatic Arts at a liberal arts school one day. I love teaching (as it is another form of creation) and if I could teach something I love so much to students who are so eager to learn would be a joy. It would also allow me the stability I’d like as well as the flexibility to travel and experience new things during the summer months.
19) There is a part of me who wants to be a sexual advice columnist in the style of Dan Savage. I know this is a lot more schooling and something I will NEVER be qualified to do but it would be such an amazing job. Human sexuality is fascinating to me and the study of it is alluring to say the least. (And I don’t even mean that in a sex crazed way...I mean like studying why some people repress sexual desire for cultural reasons, where those cultural reasons developed and why, what makes people pick their partner, what effect does sexuality have on human development, what exactly is monogamy and what does it mean to a relationship, what are the next cultural trends in regard to sexuality, what makes something taboo, etc. etc. I could go on.)
20) When I was 10 (or so) I had a mole removed from my scrotum because they were nervous it could be cancerous (it was not). It was frozen off and my reward from my dad was to let me go see Jurassic Park in Lexington even though I wasn’t 13 yet. (I wasn’t allowed to see PG-13 movies until I was 13....a strict rule of my childhood.) Afterwards we went to Lexington Green to have dinner and I could pick out any book I wanted from Joseph-Beth. I ate quickly and went into the store to pick out a book. Suddenly, my dinner caught up with me (spicy buffalo chicken strips) and I had to go to the bathroom THAT MOMENT. I was unfamiliar with the store so I had NO IDEA where the bathrooms were. I frantically searched the entire store until I finally found the restrooms. Now, when I found the restrooms my body began the “relaxation” process because I had been so tense and stressed while trying to find the toilet. I get inside and try to open the stall and BOTH are locked. My eyes widen and all I can say in my head is “You can’t poop your pants in Joseph-Beth, You can’t poop your pants in Joseph-Beth”. After nearly a minute of repeating my mantra I came to a moment of brief clarity where I said “Yes you can” and I did. Literally the moment I acquiesced the door opened and the guy said “It’s all yours.” I thanked him and went inside confused as to my next move since I no longer needed the toilet. I took off my pants and flipped my underwear inside out trying to clean up but it was a fruitless effort. I ended up throwing them in the corner of the stall and quickly leaving the store telling dad we had to go now. I told not a soul about this story until I was in college when I found out that nearly ALL of my friends had an embarrassing “poop your pants” story. I have never publicly aired it until now either. Enjoy. Also, if the Joseph-Beth worker who found my underwear ever reads this I owe them a beer.
21) I love water. I love swimming, waterfalls, fountains, ponds, lakes, oceans, pools, showers, nearly anything involving water. I’m adding on to # 11 and saying I also need some form of water something whether it be a koi pond or a decorative fountain (not tacky and gaudy but one of those looks like it was built into the terrain things).
22) My biggest fear is fear of failure.I know that by failing I learn but the whole process still intimidates me. I also have an irrational fear that when people learn about where I’m from that they will change their standards and expectations for me. I always feel like I have to prove myself before people learn about my past.
23) My favorite Ninja Turtle is Donatello, my favorite Ghostbuster is Egon and my favorite pokemon is jigglypuff.
24) I still love cartoons and think I always will. I also think it’s sort of a generational thing, the kids who loved cartoons got old and made adult ones just in time for me to enjoy them. I also still enjoy playing video games but not as much as I did when I was younger when I was a full out video game nerdo. I have over 60 NES games and have logged uncountable hours on many a system.
25) I didn’t really want to do this stupid thing but was tagged by so many people and had some time to kill on my Monday off that I gave in. This was a lot more work than I anticipated...If you read this whole thing I’m impressed...or creeped out. One of the two.
-- Saw Avenue Q with Brian on Thursday. Loved the show with the exception of Brian (the character, not the company) who was a vapid black hole on stage. Overall though, very pleased with the show. It was everything I assumed it would be from the music.
--A nice Valentine's day with Brian (the company, not the character). I learned he's quite the cook and I'm going to try and learn as much from this little foodie as I can. He's even convinced me to start watching Good Eats with Alton Brown (he used to annoy but now ole mister Brown is growing on me).
--Went to Coco Sala (the chocolate tapas place) for restaurant week where I had a pretty solid experience. The desert was obviously the best part but the most interesting was the bacon mac and cheese with a thin slice of chocolate covered bacon resting oh so delicately on top. It actually tastes better than you probably would think. Not necessarily a food item I'll be craving anytime soon but fun to say I've had. (The photo is dark, the chocolate bacon doesn't look quite as much like poo in real life.)
-- Going back a bit further I had my League auditions. (Despite the not so shiny website, it's actually quite a big deal. My headshot/resume will be sent out to 60 different companies and about 30 or so got to see my audition.) They went pretty well all things considered. My monologue got a couple laughs and the song was fine. The accompanist FLEW through it but I stayed with him and I think pulled it off just fine. The poor girl in front of me totally blanked about 4 lines into her piece, sadly put her head down, looked up and quietly said "I'm sorry" and walked off stage. Eep. Psyched me out a bit but I just went out and did it. We'll see if anything comes of it. I was pretty proud of what I ended up putting out there and afterwards I had a fantastic day up in Silver Spring. I saw Coraline with Nick and Jeremy (holy crap don't take your children to this, it's a great movie but TERRIFYING for the kiddies) and got to hang out with Nathan and Suze at their place. Some beer, an amazing drunk breakfast at midnight and some philosophical conversation made for quite a great time. (Note: for an even more terrifying movie experience, go check out Mirrors. I watched it with Nick the other night and it's pretty friggin' intense...I'd put up a picture from that but it'd be of a woman ripping her lower jaw off in a bathtub...quite a leap from a creepy spider lady cooking omlets for a claymation blue haired little girl.)
